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Skillful teaching

Compiled from lots of classroom experience, this motley list includes examples of what I’ve seen skillful teachers do — and also examples of classroom behavior that seemed unhelpful. It’s subjective. Please comment and disagree with me, because I’m still learning. I attribute the good bits where I can, but leave the less helpful bits anon. I use these abbreviations to attribute quotes:

Know that what students often look forward to in class is talking with each other and hearing each others’ thoughts

Ask students their names, and then call them by name.

Explain that some distinctions are fuzzy. “It’s like cookies versus crackers. We know there’s a distinction, but its fuzzy, and nobody really cares.”

Have recurrent catch phrases for common themes: “It’s turtles all the way down” (infinite recursion); “You’ve got nothing” (student can’t answer); “The greater includes the lesser” (JZ); teacher: “What do you do? [class]: Take the derivative!” (Ms. Caporello);

When someone asks you to help solve thein problem, begin to answer by describing your understanding of the problem: “What I see you doing is….” (Hannah Rose)

Encourage students to translate what the teacher is saying into their own words. Indeed, I think that students don’t learn anything unless they translate information into their own words.

Speak idiomatically. “Six ways from Sunday” (JZ)

State clearly when you disagree. “I see it differently;” “I disagree” (Eric Jepsy)

Use as little verbal force as needed. Talk about taking child’s pose and stretching out your arms, not take child’s pose and stretch out your arms (Hannah Rose). “I’m sorry to be using “must” with you” (Aminu G)

Ease anxiety. “In your first year, you think, I won’t pass the class if I don’t know this. And then, it has nothing to do with passing the class, it turns out” (JZ or JP)

New learners have no priors (they don’t know what’s more important than what)

Respond to odd comments with curiosity: What conception of ____ must you have to say that?

Start class after spring break by asking everyone, how was spring break? who went the farthest? (JZ)

Have students set their own goals on Day 1, return them to their goals mid-way through and on the the last day, and ask them reflect on what they’ve learned. Let them say what they’ve learned and what they’ve still to work on (Gillient Todd and Krista DeBoer).

Write in big letters on the board. Then, go through and explain everything you’ve written. (Freeman)

“Does anyone in this group have a different view?”

“Let me just give you some context.” (Freeman). Tell your students how you would think about something yourself.

“Why is that cynical? Isn’t that just how it works?” (Freeman)

When a student can’t come up with an answer, “somebody help” (Freeman)

When reading quotes from Powerpoint, omit unimportant words in the quotation without pausing (Freeman)

Give students promised breaks, or let them out early (or at least ontime) if they don’t (Anghie)

Leave a line on the syllabus for students to fill in their own learning goals and means of evaluation

Elucidate new noun phrases: “How many people know what good will is?” (JZ)

Encourage non-elicited answers: “Super. Not at all what I was thinking about, but totally right.” (JP_

Bring a sheet to class where you can notes open questions or and points that need to be returned to later.

Explain a topic in multiple ways. “Let me give you another way of thinking about this…” (BR)

Aknowledge their own thoughts: “I’m kind of baffled by this myself” (BR)

Tell students when you’ll be doing boring stuff: We have to do 10 minutes of boring stuff

Empathize. “Fox experiences [fact] as…” “Put yourself in the shoe’s of the plaintiff’s lawyer. What will you do now?” (BR)

Use theatrical hand gestures, like conductor

Set high expectations, both academically and for yourself as a person

“Among the requirements of each exercise (along with the prerequisite of personal instinct, will and imagination) are soul-searching, great leaps of faith, research, analysis, physical and digital modeling, computation, photography, welding, video and/or film production, revelations of taste and other acts of justifiable radical behavior” http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/courses/details.cgi?section_id=12201&term=s2011 Mark Scogin

Be specific: “You got model X577343…” (BR)

“Forget the law” (JZ)

Name the framing. “Now, you’ve framed this issue as one of compromise…” (Susskind)

Ask students to develop personal meanings, definitions, and importances. Why is this material important to you? What does it mean to you?

Call out hyperbole: “No more demoralizing practice? I can think of some…” (BR)

Ask students also on pre-test – why do you want to take this class? Why did you think this material will be important to you? What would you like to do with it? Ask them to sketch themselves (Karen Brennan)

Call students by their name

Write a nice syllabus

◦ Include a cartoon

◦ Tell students the questions you expect them to have grappled with by the end of the course

◦ Give students the option to choose among multiple forms of assessment: write a paper and deliver a presentation OR take a test OR option 3 – something else with approval

◦ Allow students to work in groups or teams

◦ Explain what the course is about!

Avoid awkward pauses. When you’re done answering a question, call on the next person

Teach from the board: have stuff up on the board the whole class, and USE it

Assume that if you haven’t written something on the board, it’s not in students’ notes, unless you’ve told them to put it there. Therefore, label your diagrams so students know what they’re about

If you modify a diagram too much so it’s no longer recognizable, draw a new on

Tell stories. “Do you know the story of the 3 little pigs? There’s the wooden house, and the straw house, and…(Triantis).

Be consistently metaphorical. “You must fish for plausible fish” (BR)

“My feeling about teaching discovery in a classroom is a little like teaching sex in a classroom” (BR)

Acknowledge changes in pace. “I need to push you forward very fast”

Be abundantly clear. “In ordinary English, options and alternatives sound like synonyms. As terms of art, they actually mean different things.” (Bordone)

Don’t assign more work for a class than you can get through in a day

Find out in advance when students are stressed or have major projects due — like big papers. Then acknowledge that they have major projects due, and to the extent you can, give them a little less work.

Reorganize the room during class; have students stand up and move. Multiple times. “Get up and…

Explain why material is relevant to students

Emphasize important points by lowering voice or talking more slowly

Keep larger group engaged even as you’re working with smaller group

◦ “Mark, and then we’ll move onto you, Joel”

◦ “I’m talking with everyone, not just you three”

Tell students their points are more important than they think they are (if that is true)

Maintain energy via medleys: Jump immediately from one thing to the next without flagging

Tell students that “You don’t want to know” when they ask what the AMPA in AMPA receptor stands for (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor) (Amy Arnsten)

Draw students’ attention. “Watch this.” “Make sure you understand this.” “If there’s one thing you should take from this class, it’s…”

Show new material twice. The first time for students to learn it, the second time to give students feedback on their performance of it. (Patty Cuyler)